This is Part 2: the Launches in the 3-part series of the documentation of the Jan 2009 Morristown UFO hoax that two awesome guys Joe Rudy and Chris Russo carried out earlier this year.

Part 1: The Setup - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9022371226156483716
Part 3: The Rections - http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=4754561190713590190

Tags for this video have been changed from 'very, ufo hoax, Morristown, New Jersey, flares, helium baloons, prank' to 'very, ufo hoax, Morristown, New Jersey, flares, helium balloons, prank' - edited by jonny

Upvote for a clever prank and EDD's clever flattery. I recommend watching part 3, the reactions, as it demonstrates that not everyone is so easily fooled. The local authorities are repeatedly cited as (correctly) guessing that the lights are nothing more than flares attached to balloons. On the other hand, it's also fun to watch those with less critical thinking skills see what they want. The History Channel segment is really hilarious.

I'm feeling inspired to improve on this prank. Anyone have knowledge of pyrotechnics? I want to create a slow burning flare that doesn't look like a road flare. I'm thinking magnesium strips, but I guess I'll have to experiment.

c'mon guys.

those 2 fellas? motherfuckin' aliens of the highest order, undercover, testing our reactions 'n' shit before they come and probe us all to death with their grey spindly fingers. now they know we'll fall for any old shit it shouldn't be long 'til the invasion.

all the best.

>> ^jonny:
I'm feeling inspired to improve on this prank. Anyone have knowledge of pyrotechnics? I want to create a slow burning flare that doesn't look like a road flare. I'm thinking magnesium strips, but I guess I'll have to experiment.


Cattle mutilation and human lobotomy.

GO!

Saw this on the Skeptic Society's website, and it is definitely pure win.

I think to improve on this prank, using Sky Lantern's could definitely do the trick:
http://skylanterns.net/

Perhaps hooking one up to an RC plane to make it zoom across the sky could be top notch foolery.

Right at the start of the reactions video the first presenter asked was it a UFO or is there a more down-to-earth explanation?

It's incredible that the very definition of UFO seems to have changed to mean alien spacecraft.

OMG, I HATE the UFO Hunters. They are SUCH jackasses. Also, I totally agree about the "History" channel. I realize you need to fight for ratings, but really, what they are doing is just whoring their once good name out in the name of ratings.

I LOVE the second clip of the reactions, especially when the UFO Hunters show snidely says that the local cops were wrong in saying that it was just some balloons and flairs (exactly what it was). Then they go on to the statement that the great UFO Hunters "prove that explanation is implausible."

God, those idiots need to be slapped. I'm hardly a scientist and I know their supposed "scientific method" is hooey. They might as well be running around with PK meters.

Could FOX find a goofier reporter?

This whole thing is great, just goes to show people will believe what they want, even when the FOX guy points out exactly what it was.

^ I know - who'd've thought Shepard Smith would be the voice of reason!

>> ^ElJardinero:
>> ^jonny:
I'm feeling inspired to improve on this prank. Anyone have knowledge of pyrotechnics? I want to create a slow burning flare that doesn't look like a road flare. I'm thinking magnesium strips, but I guess I'll have to experiment.

Cattle mutilation and human lobotomy.

Ok - that's a bit more out of the box than I had in mind.

God, I hate the Hurleys.

Well, UFO's are real alright. I mean, lots of times people have seen a flying object they can't identify.

Judging from the size of universe, aliens are probably real, too.

But the UFO's we see = Aliens? Nah, I doubt it!

Isn't tying a burning road flare to a helium balloon then launching it over a FOREST a touch dangerous? I mean, the Japanese sorta did this in World War 2 for the express purpose of burning down the entire pacific northwest.

I like how one of the interviews of the "pilot" he admits that he only has his pilot's license and only 500 hours of flight time yet everyone keeps introducing him as a pilot.

I love in part 3 how the UFO Hunters 'test' the theory that the objects were flares attached to balloons, but their conclusion is that this would be implausible. Balloons = implausible UFO = definitely.

Hilarious.

Can any of you "skeptics" explain why the lights moved in organized sequence, as if they were being controlled by some intelligence greater than our own?!

I'm not saying it's aliens or God, but I'm just saying we don't know.

brilliant. i love sifts like this that set me off on a google hunt to read and watch everything on the topic. excellent!

I don't understand why people are so surprised that this worked. Some guys got together and tied road flares to high altitude balloons.

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying there isn't alien life but I can't really prove there IS either. But who thinks someone would tie a bunch of road flares to a balloon and launch them? There will always be two groups, one who thinks it's a prank and the other who thinks its UFOs. Both groups are looking for SOMETHING and will argue one way or the other.

It's like lighting a bush on fire, some people will see a miracle other people will just assume it's because it was very dry, and very hot.

All these two guys did is waste a lot of peoples time. Skeptics and Believers. Downvote from me.

^It saves time in the big picture if the experience lets people reduce their cognitive error rate.

Reality is a little too complicated for us to allow ourselves to make such serious cognitive errors as to believe a balloon is an undiscovered alien civilization.

I think people too commonly mistake UFO's for aliens. If it's a flare attached to a balloon and you see it as a red light, it is still a UFO. Why? Well, you can not identify it. When you zoom in and see what it really is, only then it stops being an UFO to you. To others it might still be UFO.

UFO is not a synonym to alien spacecraft.

Tonight on the History Channel:

8pm: "Was Jesus Really Resurrected?"
9pm: "Hitler's Aliens"
10pm: "Remember the History Channel?"

Repeat...

lol ryjkyj

I figured the History channel jumped the shark when they started showing the Schwarzenegger film "Commando".

Only thing I could figure is because Arnie asked Sulley to "remembah when ah said ah wuud keel you lahst?"

>> ^Skeeve:
I like how one of the interviews of the "pilot" he admits that he only has his pilot's license and only 500 hours of flight time yet everyone keeps introducing him as a pilot.


That's double the flight time required for a commercial pilot license.

booooring

The definition of UFO has pretty much changed, which really pisses me off. When someone asks me "Do you believe in UFOs" I always reply "Do you mean to ask me whether I believe that UFOs are in fact alien spacecraft?"

These people are now being brought up on charges.

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/morristown-nj/TIAMK65L3CVB6HJA2

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Friday, April 3rd, 2009 9:10am PDT - promote requested by eric3579.

They were fined $250 each and sentenced to 50 hours of community service for creating a disturbance.

You know what they say about tinfoil hats?

Regular tinfoil wont cut it, you need to a layer of tinfoil and some coper mesh and then another layer of tinfoil.

Copper Foil.

Tinfoil just wont cut it, put some copper mesh on your head.

I am a Faraday Nerd, and I want to make one of my upstairs rooms RF proof. Why? For science. Also so I have a place to go when I don't want to be bothered by that pesky 32 ghz phone, or my cell phone.

So when people say, "Go put your tinfoil hat on, I say you do know Faraday's law does work? Its proven, ergo, the tinfoil hat is not a lie. Only the reason for wearing it is a lie."

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by critical_d.